Mindouli security in Pool: a call to return home
Brazzaville, 15 January (ACI) — Mr Séraphin Ondélé, Prefect, Chief of Staff to the Minister of the Interior and Decentralisation and President of the Joint Parity Ad-hoc Commission (Commission ad-hoc mixte paritaire, CAMP), urged dispersed populations from Mindouli, in the Pool department, to return to their respective homes. He encouraged residents to resume their daily occupations “in tranquillity and serenity”, presenting the message as part of a broader effort to stabilise the locality and restore confidence in public life.
The appeal was delivered publicly in Brazzaville during a press briefing held at the end of a CAMP meeting convened from 12 to 15 January. That session, according to the same source, was dedicated to examining the “tragic events” reported on 11 January in Mindouli, within the framework of the ceasefire and cessation-of-hostilities agreement between the Government and Reverend Pastor Frédéric Ntumi Bintsamou.
Ceasefire monitoring: CAMP’s role and the January 12–15 meeting
Mr Ondélé’s remarks were explicitly linked to the mandate of CAMP, which is tasked with implementing the ceasefire and supporting the settlement of tensions connected to the Pool file. The commission’s meeting from 12 to 15 January culminated in a statement of continued engagement, reiterating its determination to keep working toward what it described as a definitive resolution of the situation.
In this context, the press briefing served both as a public information exercise and as an institutional signal. It placed the 11 January incident within the established monitoring mechanism of the ceasefire framework, while calling for a rapid return to everyday routines for affected residents.
Public order and freedom of movement: restoring circulation
During the briefing, Mr Ondélé stressed that public order, which he said had been disrupted, must be restored, consolidated and maintained. He framed this objective as essential to guaranteeing the circulation of persons and goods—an expression that, in the Congolese administrative lexicon, refers to the security conditions required for normal economic and social activity.
His message also contained a civic reminder. He urged citizens in Mindouli to observe the laws and regulations of the Republic, presenting legal compliance as the most reliable basis for protecting the rights and freedoms of all. The emphasis remained on stability and reassurance, with a focus on preventing renewed disorder.
Social media responsibility and de-escalation in Mindouli
Mr Ondélé further appealed to social media users to demonstrate responsibility regarding the content of their publications, particularly where such content does not contribute to appeasement. The statement echoed a common institutional concern: that unverified or inflammatory communications can aggravate tensions and complicate efforts aimed at restoring calm.
By placing public communication alongside security and legality, the authorities’ message suggested that de-escalation is understood as both an operational matter on the ground and a question of collective discipline in the public sphere.
What ACI reports about the 11 January Mindouli incident
According to ACI, the events described as tragic and occurring on 11 January in Mindouli opposed agents of the Directorate General of Presidential Security (Direction générale de la sécurité présidentielle, DGSP) and militiamen associated with Pastor Frédéric Ntumi Bintsamou, in the Pool department.
In the absence of further publicly detailed elements in the cited account, the official line highlighted by CAMP’s president centred on restoring order and encouraging the population to return to normal life, while the commission reaffirmed its commitment to the ceasefire implementation framework.